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Shortly after the meeting with the Grahams and Romney, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association scrubbed prior references to Mormonism as a cult from its website because, the association said, “we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”

Romney is a longtime member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Previously, Mormons had been on the evangelical organization’s “cult” list, alongside Unitarians, Scientologists, Spiritists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and adherents of the Unification Church.

The association’s quiet embrace of Mormonism came after a gay-rights group pointed out that Mormonism remained on the list despite Graham’s support for Romney. Pretty soon the “cult” reference was gone from the website, the Religion News Service reports.

Prominent Christian evangelist Reverend Billy Graham, 93, all but endorsed Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney on October 11th, after the candidate had visited his Montreat, North Carolina home. The following Tuesday, the Billy Graham Evangelist Association confirmed that it had removed the Mormon religion from the list of religions described as “cults” on its website after it was publicly pointed out by the New Civil Rights Movement – an advocacy group for the LGBT community. Previously, the word “Mormons” was listed next to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientologists, Unitarians, Spiritists, and members of the Unification Church by the Billy Graham Evangelist Association when it named religions it had considered cults.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed language labeling Mormonism a “cult” from its website after the famed preacher met with Republican nominee Mitt Romney and the association pledged to help his presidential campaign.

The removal came after a gay rights group reported that the “cult” reference remained online even after Graham all but endorsed Romney, a Mormon, last week.

Should the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association have Removed Mormons from “Cult” List?

October 19, 2012

Christianity Today

“One very good thing about the Romney candidacy is that it is causing both evangelicals and Mormons to clarify terminology in civil dialogue–as among friends. I don’t believe this is a cause of concern, but rather one that will lead to discussions focusing on dialogue that has the flavor and content of grace.”

Jerry Root, director of Wheaton Evangelism Institute, Wheaton College “Mormonism fits the traditional evangelical definition of a ‘theological cult,’ but that is not what most Americans think of when they think of a cult; they think of a compound in Waco. I think it is more helpful to call it a different religion, like Islam and Judaism, and to share the gospel of Jesus with them accordingly.” Ed Stetzer, president, LifeWay Research

Influential pastor Billy Graham is signaling to evangelical Christians that they shouldn’t hesitate to vote for Mitt Romney because of his Mormon religion, further cementing Romney’s strong standing with the key Republican voting bloc.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association this week removed Mormonism from its list of religious cults, the Charlotte Observer reports. Mormons consider themselves Christians, though not all of their beliefs align with mainstream Christian doctrine.

The Rev. Billy Graham’s Web site has removed an article labeling Mormonism a cult, a move that follows Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s visit to the evangelical leader.

An online journal The New Civil Rights Movement and the Asheville Citizen-Times reported the disappearance of the article. The article had said that “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others” were cults. Mr. Graham, 93 years old, met with Mr. Romney last week, on Oct. 11 at his home inMontreat, N.C. Mr. Romney soon after addressed a crowd in Asheville, N.C.

Also on Thursday, news reports spotlighted the recent removal of a reference to Mormonism as a cult from the website of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In a section of the website called Billy Graham’s “My Answer,” there had been the question, “What is a cult?” The answer was, “A cult is any group which teaches doctrines or beliefs that deviate from the biblical message of the Christian faith,” according to CNN.com.

“Some of these groups are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritualists, Scientologists, and others,” the answer continued.

The action of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association earlier this week, in an article on the Association website, removed Mormonism from a list it regards as religious cults but still includes Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Unification Church, Unitarians and Scientologists. Observers said it can be interpreted as a signal the association recommends not disqualifying Romney’s candidacy because of his Mormon faith, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Thursday.

Mormons consider themselves Christians and say their faith observes the teachings of Jesus, but give the Book of Mormon equal stature with the Bible and have other differences with mainstream Christian teaching.

Billy Graham moved this week to obviously embrace Mitt Romney for president. But there was something he had to do first: remove Mormonism from his website’s list of “cults.” Until this week Mormonism was on a list with Scientology on the reverend’s Evangelistic Association site. The “M” word was jettisoned shortly after Romney visited Graham at his North Carolina home last week, reports ABC. “We removed the information because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign,” explains a spokesman for Graham.

Evangelicals have been handed one more hint that it’s all right to vote for Mitt Romney, whose Mormon faith has long been considered beyond the pale of American Protestantism. From the Charlotte Observer:

This week, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed Mormonism from its list of religious cults.

After famed evangelist Billy Graham met with Mitt Romney, saying he would do all he could to help the Romney campaign, Graham’s Evangelistic Association removed from its website Mormonism, where it was listed with Scientology as a religious cult.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association recently deleted a reference to Mormonism being a cult after the Rev. Billy Graham and his son met with presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is Mormon. The site had read, “A cult is any group which teaches doctrines or beliefs that deviate from the biblical message of the Christian faith. Some of these groups are Jehovah’s Witnesess, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spritualists, Scientologists, and others.” The association told CNN, “Our primary focus at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has always been promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We removed the information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”

Evangelical leader Billy Graham urged Americans to “vote for biblical values,” in an implicit endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a Mormon. The message of support came after the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed an article on its website that had said Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church and Scientologists belong to “cults”, AFP reports.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has removed references on its Web site to the idea that Mormonism is a cult, the Charlotte Observer reports, adding that it’s only one of many signs of growing closeness between the Graham family and Mitt Romney. While Billy Graham has never formally endorsed a candidate, the ties between the family and Romney have grown tighter, starting with Franklin’s call before the S.C. presidential primary for conservative Christians to not hold Romney’s religion against him. “We are not electing a pastor-in-chief,” he said at the time.

Billy Graham Removes Mentions of Mormonism As Being a Cult from His Website

October 18, 2012

Cleveland Leader (Ohio)

Well-known Christian evangelist Billy Graham has never before endorsed a presidential candidate, but this week he took his first steps towards supporting Mitt Romney for the presidency. Graham’s Evangelistic Association removed Romney’s Mormon religion from a list of cults on his website and took out an advertisement that appears to urge people to vote for Romney.

Mormonism used to be listed on Graham’s website as a cult along with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Scientology.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said Wednesday that it removed language from its website referring to Mormonism as a cult following a visit by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the minister’s home.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported (http://avlne.ws/QX55mV) that the association’s website has deleted an article from its website which listed as cults “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Unitarians, Spiritists, Scientologists, and others.”

So why, three weeks prior to one of the most hotly contested presidential elections in modern history, does America’s Evangelist need to suddenly declare Mormonism no longer a cult? Has there been an unreported change in theology or practice? What purpose could there be other than removing a barrier that might keep some evangelical Christians from voting for a Mormon? Especially when the evangelist, to the best of my knowledge, never has repudiated his own son’s statements from February, implying that Obama may not be a Christian but is likely a secret Muslim. Why is Billy Graham taking sides in a presidential election?

Just as matching genitalia is not enough to get a lady feminist to support a female candidate, it turns out that so too is matching religion not enough to convince a Mormon feminist to vote for Mitt Romney. Not only is the small, but active community of American Mormon feminists not going to vote for him, they’re McKayla Maroney-levels of unimpressed with the idea of a President Mitt Romney.

Reuters asked several prominent Mormon feminists how they felt about Romney the candidate, and their response can best be summed up as *eyeroll*. Lisa Butterworth of Feminist Mormon Housewives said, “I pretty much know every Mormon feminist, and I can’t think of any of them that are going to vote for Romney.” A poll conducted by the feminist LDS magazine Exponent II found that almost 3/4 of Mormon feminists who responded were on Team Obama. Another prominent Mormon feminist said that Mormon feminists are like other, non-Mormon feminists, in that they tend to be supporters of candidates who support policies that would further equal opportunities for both genders. So, not stuff Romney likes.

Though President Obama holds an advantage among female voters, Romney doesn’t seem to have a women problem in the polls. At least not yet. But there’s one group he definitely can’t count on: Mormon feminists.

Romney’s awkward and tone deaf comments on women in Tuesday’s debate did not sit well with this crew, who follow the teachings of Joseph Smith, but are pushing back against the church’s chauvinistic ways.

But I will press on. By taking Mormons off of his cult list, Graham has given me a priceless gift that I am determined not to squander. I’ve already thrown out my pentagrams and broomsticks, and the goat head is coming down this weekend so that I can blend with the great, formless mass of the American mainstream.

I mean, I can always go back to biting the heads off things if Romney loses in a few weeks and Graham puts Mormons back on his cults’ list.

When Ann Romney appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno late last month, she wore a figure-hugging leather skirt and jacket by Boston designer Alfred Fiandaca. New York magazine called it “exciting and preposterous.” But for many fellow Mormons (particularly the bloggers) the more pressing issue was whether Romney could have worn her traditional Mormon undergarments under so tight a skirt.

Mitt Romney’s run for president sparks questions for Mormons in Alabama

October 19, 2012

Alabama Live

In response to the frequent questions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has scheduled an open house on Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the LDS chapel in Indian Springs, 2720 Cahaba Valley Road, on Highway 119.

“The church is completely politically neutral in this race,” said Lanny Smartt, an attorney who serves as president of the Bessemer Stake. All leadership positions in the Latter-day Saints Church are held by volunteers. There are no paid clergy for the Salt Lake City-based denomination.

“We have to be careful never to give the impression we are supporting a candidate,” Smartt said.

“We simply don’t talk about politics,” said Richard Holzapfel, a history professor at Brigham Young University who took a three-year leave to serve as president of the Birmingham Mission, overseeing 140 young missionaries in Alabama.

The Mormon Church doesn’t endorse candidates or political parties, and although most American Mormons are Republicans, a Mormon Democrat has served as the Senate Majority Leader for the last five years. Owing to our history of persecution and emphasis on self-reliance, there is also a noteworthy group of Mormons with libertarian sympathies who do not easily identify with either party.

Mormons can be found on all sides of most issues. On immigration, for example, many Mormons tend to be more liberal than other Republicans (or Democrats, for that matter). Many of us have served missions abroad, and tend not to be too judgmental of people who come here seeking a better life. Although Mormons generally agree on many important moral issues (see below), there is no consensus on economics and the proper role of government. We all agree, for example, that we have an obligation to help the poor. However, the extent to which government should help meet their needs by taxing others is a point of contention among followers of most faiths, including ours.

The danger to our military families posed by having a man in the White House whose knowledge of the world seems to only extend to avoiding military service, tax shelters, investing in Chinese sweat shops and a stint as a missionary in France, comes from the fact that to be a good Mormon one has to be jingoistic and combative about foreign policy. So if he’s elected let’s pray Romney isn’t a good Mormon! Let’s hope he’s faking it!

Bill Maher said: “In 100 years this country will be Mormon. It’s a stupid religion and a stupid country. They were made for each other.” I hope Maher’s wrong. However one proof that he’s right about our stupidity is that we Americans debate the impact Romney may have on the economy while ignoring his unique Mormon-inspired potential to get Marines like my son killed.

So thanks to the Google, I located the official Mormon position on abortion on the LDS website.

1. It prohibits elective abortion for personal or social convenience:

2. It goes on to say that:

Church leaders have said that some exceptional circumstances may justify an abortion, such as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother is judged by competent medical authority to be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. But even these circumstances do not automatically justify an abortion. Those who face such circumstances should consider abortion only after consulting with their local Church leaders and receiving a confirmation through earnest prayer.

As Mitt Romney’s challenge to Barack Obama enters its final weeks, one of many stories playing out is his Mormon religion and the impact it may have on the election. Romney is the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be nominated for president, and comparisons to the 1960 race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon are unavoidable.

There is a religious backdrop to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s controversy with female voters — in his fragile polling numbers and after his awkward debate quote about once being given “whole binders full of women” to consider for leadership.

Romney’s religion — The Church of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) — has quite a bit to say about the proper role of women.

It starts with rules about women in leadership. The official Mormon doctrine is that women aren’t allowed to be clergy.

With one of the most important presidential elections coming up in less than three weeks, some Christian voters are still undecided or against voting for a Mormon candidate. Over two dozen evangelical leaders have addressed the issue.

One of them is Dr. Frank Wright, president of National Religious Broadcasters, who recognizes there are huge theological differences in the understanding of most Christians and many Mormons.

“Governor Romney himself has acknowledged that there are significant differences between the things that he believes and that Christians believe,” Wright says.

Frequently seen around Academic Plaza, a religious group is doing their part to spread their beliefs to the students of Texas A&M. Easily recognized by the white shirts, black ties and friendly attitudes are the members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, otherwise know as Mormons.

Elder Peterson, a Mormon volunteer who evangelizes on campus, said there is a lot about Mormonism that stems from Christianity.

“We are Christians. We do believe in Christ and that He came to save us all,” Peterson said.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – more commonly known as the Mormons – was founded in 1820 by Joseph Smith, a farmer from Vermont.

Smith’s first divine revelation came at 14 when God led him to a nearby hillside to tablets of gold containing an ancient history of the inhabitants of North America – the Latter-day Saints. Smith’s translation of the tablets became the Book of Mormon.

While most Americans consider it a cult rather than a religion according to a recent study, Mormons make up just under 2 per cent of the US population and there are 14 million practitioners worldwide.

Mormon adults are expected to complete two years of missionary service – most Australians have probably run into a few doing exactly that on the streets of our major towns and cities.

In 1977, newly married, my husband and I moved east to Massachusetts where he began studies at Harvard Law School. We found ourselves worshiping at the same Cambridge church as Mitt and Ann Romney and their young boys.

It was a wonderfully tight-knit congregation, with people from all over the Boston area. During that time, we witnessed the story where the Oparowskis’ son died of cancer and we attended the funeral where Mitt Romney spoke at this young boy’s request.

When pressed by Whoopi Goldberg on how Romney would explain that neither he nor any of his five sons served, Ann explained that the six men found “different ways of serving” by going on their Mormon religious missions.

“So, you know, we find different ways of serving,” she said. “And my husband and my five boys did serve missions, did not serve in the military.”

The woman who could be the First Lady come January corrected Goldberg gracefully about her inaccurate views about Mormonism, probably gleaned from far-left site she took as Gospel. Can you imagine the falsehoods Team View had planned for her husband in order to embarrass him?

Romney, 63, clad in a red dress and gold jewelry, was initially scheduled to appear with her husband, who backed out citing a scheduling conflict, according to host Barbara Walters. But his wife deftly deflected her husband’s description of the female klatch as “sharp-tongued,” saying the candidate called the women “sharp and young.” Moments later, Goldberg asked Romney if her husband’s Mormon faith precluded him or their five sons from serving in the military and whether the Romneys would be prepared to console relatives of fallen U.S. soldiers. Many Mormons serve in the military and the faith does not bar them from doing so.

Ann Romney Likens Mitt Serving As A Mormon Missionary To Serving In The Military

October 18, 2012

The New Civil Rights Movement

Ann Romney today on ABC’s “The View” said that her husband Mitt Romney serving as a Mormon missionary in Paris, France, in the late 1960″s was like the service — and, lives — given by members of the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Mrs. Romney also included her five sons in the claim of equal service.

“I believe your religion does not allow you to fight,” Whoopi Goldberg said to Ann Romney. “No, that is not true. We have many members of our faith serving in the armed services.”

“No, that’s not correct,” said Romney, wife of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, also a Mormon. “We have many, many members of our faith that are serving in armed services.”

“Okay, um,” Goldberg said. “I say that because when I read about your husband, what I had read — and maybe you can correct this — is that the reason that he didn’t serve in Vietnam was because it was against the religion. That’s what I read.”

But at another moment Ann Romney’s restraint, it has to be said, served her well. There have been a lot of missed chances in this campaign, and one was for Americans to learn more about Mormonism, a faith whose history is wrapped up, in a way few others are, with that of this country. That hasn’t happened–something Whoopi Goldberg made painfully clear, in an exchange in which she seemed to have mistaken Mormon for some sort of mountain-state version of Quakers.

Whoopi Goldberg to Ann Romney: Isn’t it against the Mormon religion to fight in wars?

October 18, 2012

Washington Examiner (DC)

Explaining that if Romney became president, Whoopi Goldberg questioned Ann Romney on The View today how, as a Mormon, she would respond to mothers who lost their children in wars since their religion did not allow them to fight.

“As First Lady, if you get the job, it’s going to tell a lot of things and one of those things is going to be talking to the mothers whose children are coming home in bags, you know, from wars,” she said. Now, I know — I believe that your religion doesn’t allow you to go fight.”

Whoopi said she’d read somewhere that the reason Mitt Romney did not serve in the military “in Vietnam was because it was against the [Mormon] religion.”

“That is not correct. He was serving his mission,” Mitt’s wife said. “And my five sons have also served missions. So we find different ways of serving, and my five boys and my husband did serve missions and did not serve in the military.”

Goldberg didn’t storm off, as she sometimes has when faced with conservatives or righty topics. But she did bring up “your religion,” asking if Mormonism is what kept Mitt out of Vietnam and will that be a problem in the White House. No, Ann said, many Mormons serve in the military. Mitt and their sons performed missionary service instead.

When Whoopi Goldberg asked if the Romneys’ Mormon faith precluded Mitt and their sons from serving in the military, Ann compared service to the United States of America with serving a Mormon mission. “He [Mitt Romney] was serving his mission and my five sons also served [on] missions,” Ann Romney replied. “We find different ways of serving.”

Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of “The View on ABC, failed at an attempt to get Ann Romney with a “gotcha” question on Mormonism and military service. Romney, who appeared as a guest on the mid-day talk show, had to correct Goldberg on her faith’s view on military service. Goldberg wrongly said that service in the armed forces was forbidden by the religion and was promptly corrected by Mrs. Romney.

Mistakenly believing that Mormons are forbidden from fighting, Goldberg asked Mitt Romney’s wife Ann Romney how she would comfort the families of fallen American soldiers should her husband become president.

“As first lady, if you get the job, it’s going to entail a lot of things. And one of those things is going to be talking to the mothers whose children are coming home in bags, you know, from wars,” Goldberg said.” Now, I know — I believe that your religion doesn’t allow you to go fight.”

Whoopi Goldberg picked up on the same attack that Mike Wallace tried on 60 Minutes in 2007 — whacking the Romneys for not serving the military. Obama’s lack of service never comes up with these people. But Whoopi added in her misunderstanding of Mormon beliefs about military service.

In what may have been the most contentious exchange in the interview, host Whoopi Goldberg questioned how Romney would deal with speaking with military families, because, she said, “I believe that your religion doesn’t allow you to go fight.” Ann replied, “No, that’s not correct. We have many, many members of our faith that are serving in armed services.”

The Salt Lake Tribune, paper of record in the heart of Mormon territory, has endorsed President Barack Obama.

The Salt Lake Trib endorsed Obama in 2008 as well, but given Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, as well as his role in the 2002 Winter Olympics, there was a reasonable expecation that the editorial board might lean the other way.

But weekly in Utah, 199 LDS congregations also hold services in languages other than English — mostly for recent immigrants.

That is nearly three times more than the 74 foreign-language LDS wards and branches that existed in the state a decade ago, reflecting how Utah is growing more diverse and how the Mormon church tries to help immigrants feel comfortable as they worship.

“Most Latter-day Saint church services in the United States and in Utah are conducted in English,” LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said. “However, some non-English speakers participate more fully and better understand church teachings when they worship and socialize in congregations taught in their native language.”

Still, Mohler warned evangelicals should not “trim our sails in light of political priorities to say anything less than we must say about the truth of the Gospel and the untruth of Mormonism.”

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been actively involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout his life, including serving on a mission in France during his college days, being married in the Salt Lake City Mormon Temple, and serving in leadership positions as ward (local congregation) bishop and stake (group of congregations) president.

Romney subtlely acknowledged evangelicals and Mormons are “different faiths” in a May 12, 2012, speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., an evangelical school founded by Jerry Falwell.

With the White House race nearing an end, it’s time for political pundits to face the fact that millions of voters will be worried on Election Day about Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith.

Many will be offended by what they believe are the intolerant teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on marriage. Others will be worried about Mormonism’s history of opposing abortion rights.

“There really is a large group of people in America who won’t vote for Mitt Romney for president because he is a Mormon,” said Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes, in a recent Institute on Religion and Democracy lecture.

It has been curious to observe the about-face that many formerly doctrinaire evangelicals have taken when it comes to the subject of Governor Romney’s religion. For most evangelical Christians, the Mormon faith has commonly been viewed as an unorthodox, non-Christian religion. Even the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which once characterized the Mormon religion as cultic, recently deleted that wording from its website. This has got me to thinking more about the relationship between politics and faith.

Throughout the Republican primaries they tended to back more conservative candidates such as former Sen. Rick Santorum, in part because of their discomfort with some of Romney’s past positions as well as his Mormon faith. Several conservative Christian leaders have pointed to the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate — a Catholic with sterling conservative credentials — as another sign Romney was willing to stand up for their issues.

Long said that although there was some initial hesitation from evangelicals because of Romney’s faith, that time has passed.

Today, a whopping 34% of Boy Scouts troops nationwide are co-sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But sources who have scrutinized the BSA’s so-called “perversion files” report that fewer than 2% of the cases documented therein are connected with Mormons. It is believed that LDS Church may have handled child abuse cases internally rather than reporting them to BSA officials.

The LDS Church confronted patterns of child sexual abuse within its own ranks in the 1990s after several high-profile child sexual abuse cases resulted in multimillion dollar payouts to victims and their families. The Mormon Alliance, a grassroots Mormon organization that monitored abuse within the Church, published a study documenting negligence on the part of local members and leaders in addressing abuse–and even the excommunication of some victims and accusers. In 1995, the Church established stronger guidelines and new protocols for reporting abuse, including a 1-800 number for local clergy.

The Mormon church recently lowered the age at which members can start serving their missions. The minimum age for women used to be age 21, now it’s 19. That may not sound like a big difference, but the change has been hailed as a ‘giant leap’ by Mormon bloggers. Host Michel Martin looks at what the decision will mean for young women with Joanna Brooks, author of The Book of Mormon Girl, and Emily Jensen of Deseret News.

They were released in response to an order by the Oregon Supreme Court. “What these files represent is … the pain and the anguish of thousands” of scouts, said lawyer Paul Mones, while presenting details of the files at a press conference in the northwestern US state. Mones said the files “demonstrate the depth and breadth of the BSA’s vast knowledge about the threats to scouts by scoutmasters and adult leaders who used their authority … to sexually molest generations of boys.” The lawyers highlighted a 2010 court case, in which an assistant scoutmaster in a Mormon Church-sponsored troop sexually molested a boy in the 1980s.

In 1978, however, files indicate he was allowed alone with Scouts in Pennsylvania. A letter from a scoutmaster there, dated May 1979, identifies him as a former scoutmaster of a troop sponsored by the Church of Latter Day Saints or Mormon Church in Bedford, Pa.

For a young religion, Mormonism seems to have more history than it knows what to do with. The church’s founding fathers were outsize, operatic characters: the prophet Joseph Smith, who believers claim received and translated “The Book of Mormon,” and his successor, Brigham Young, who “preserved a church and created a people,” according to this new biography by John G. Turner, an assistant professor of religious studies at George Mason University.

But until he met Joseph Smith, Brigham — the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, call both Smith and Young by their first names — was a 29-year-old transient nobody in upstate New York who “lived on the economic margins of his society,” and wasn’t particularly religious. He relished the sense of community he found among the Mormons and was much moved by his early encounters with Smith (“He took heaven . . . and brought it down to earth,” Young recalled). Yet half a lifetime later, that unlettered ex-husbandman ruled over a theocratic empire as large as France. Turner calls Young “the greatest colonizer in American history,” who established Mormon outposts in present-苓ay California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming.

For a long time (even before the Republican Convention) I was being asked whether I could vote for a Mormon presidential candidate. To those in the LDS faith this may seem a particularly unnecessary and perhaps even an egregious question. Some might even call it mean spirited and attribute it to “Mormon — hating”. After all, “Mormons are Christians too” so I am often told.

To understand the question (and why it is so important for Christians) it must be put into the cultural context of orthodox Christianity. Mormons and Christians (orthodox) are theologically different at some not insignificant doctrinal crossroads. There are a plethora of theological differences between the LDS faith and historic, traditional (orthodox) Christianity, not the least of which is Jesus Christ Himself. So, for an orthodox Christian to vote for a Latter-Day-Saint they may feel they are going against the fundamentals of their faith — fact is, they are. If they were calling a Pastor they would not, they could not, select a Mormon. No more than a Baptist Pastor could or should be appointed Bishop of an LDS ward. In the mind of an orthodox Believer in historic biblical Christianity they would be voting for someone who is following false teaching. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7.15). He also said, “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24.11). Theologically the LDS faith and orthodox Christianity are much different. But is that the end? Is my vote then to be cast only for another like-minded Christian? Should my voting preference always be reserved for a fellow evangelical? Should I ever vote for a Mormon? Should I never vote for a Mormon?

A plot of land in Susquehanna County that was once home to Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be developed into a visitor’s center focused on the historical significance of the place.

The Oakland Township land holds sacred significance to the church and is a recognized historical site. Keith Dunford, stake president of nine LDS congregations in Northeastern Pennsylvania, said “the church concluded it was time to do a full restoration of this site for church members and nonmembers to learn about our church history.”

Plans for the site include realigning Route 171 for safety issues; reconstructing the Isaac Hale and Joseph Smith homes; and building a visitors’ center and chapel. Trails, walkways and access roads also will be constructed, Dunford said.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I got to Provo, Utah. I knew that many people here were followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, better known as the Mormons. And I was here to visit Brigham Young University — also known as the Mormon University.

Meeting staff and students, I felt the differences almost immediately. The polite inquiry as to whether I’d like “a beverage” had me checking myself before replying “oh, coffee would be lovely.” BYU follows a strict interpretation of the Mormon Code and caffeine is banned on the campus. Flustered, I couldn’t think of much else quickly enough besides “oh, a water would be lovely.”

The year 1893 was a watershed one for the Mormons, University of Richmond professor Terryl Givens told a conference of religion writers in suburban Washington earlier this month.

No, that’s not the year the Mormons outlawed polygamy; that was 1890. Two things happened in ’93: the first World Parliament of Religions, in Chicago, and an international vocal competition in Europe.

“Representatives from all kinds of religions were present in Chicago,” Givens said. “Only one was banned. That was the Mormons. We complained, and they let our man in. But then they changed their mind and excluded him. We were viewed as too bizarre.”

Elder Hlilaphi, 26, is a missionary, who trawls east London for up to 10 hours a day with the aim of saving souls and finding new converts for his faith. He first came across the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – aka the Mormons – nine years ago when he was a teenager in Cape Town, South Africa.

Intrigued, he and some friends went to the nearby church where he was baptised and became Elder Hlilaphi.

In Britain, you are most likely to meet a Mormon on the streets. They are easily recognised, and most are unfailingly polite.

Colbert also got the Las Vegas boys to dish on chattin’ it up with Mitt, despite his asking, “So do all Mormons meet each other?” Characteristically muted, the Killers responded by pointing out there are 14 million followers of their religion worldwide. Zing! It’s that incisive Mormon wit in action.

One of the reasons the moderate sounding Mormon former governor the GOP nominated for president this year is Mitt Romney not Jon Huntsman is that the latter very pointedly broke with his party on climate change in particular and respect for science more generally (Romney, on the other hand, changed his stance on the issue–political scientists are pretty sure the change was manmade).

After the departure of Jesus and the testimonies of the children at the end of 3 Nephi 26, Jesus appears yet again in chapters 27-28, for a further teaching to the leaders of the community: they are to preach the gospel, be gathered in a church named by the name of Jesus, and remain faithful to the teachings he has given on these three visits. Nine of the twelve apostles are granted the prospect of a swifter end to their ministries on earth, whereas three remain to perform their ministries and preaching for a much longer time. In the end, the fate of these three is rather mysterious, a kind of twilight presence near but not quite in this world, and as if to come again: “And now behold, as I spake concerning those whom the Lord hath chosen, yea, even three who were caught up into the heavens, that I knew not whether they were cleansed from mortality to immortality. But behold, since I wrote, I have inquired of the Lord, and he hath made it manifest unto me that there must needs be a change wrought upon their bodies, or else it needs be that they must taste of death. Therefore, that they might not taste of death there was a change wrought upon their bodies, that they might not suffer pain nor sorrow save it were for the sins of the world. Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the earth could not hold them. And in this state they were to remain until the judgment day of Christ; and at that day they were to receive a greater change, and to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the heavens.” (3 Nephi 28.36-40)

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